Wanting to use proven components and keep things rugged and usable, the build starts with a 6U-sized plastic rack mount case. This saves weight over plywood versions and is nice and tough. A combination of off-the-shelf rack mount parts and 3D printed pieces are brought together to make it all happen. [oliverkrystal]’s printed cable organisers are a particular treat, and something we think could help a lot of builds out there.

It all comes together as an impressive self-contained unit with two radios, an antenna tuner, in-built illumination and other useful features. No longer does one have to scramble around preparing gear for the weekend’s hamventures – grab the box and you’re ready to go!

interesting, i immediately thought of skb, and how their blow molded cases and racks always have handle failures, so i never trust them. though most ham guys are much more gentle on their equipment than, than most musicians are.

You’re right, this isn’t going anywhere fast. When I started with the CAD layouts I realized that. I don’t have anywhere to leave a ham shack set up, so this makes getting on air a matter of plugging into an outlet and connecting to an antenna. Because of that, I’m alright with it being a ham shack-in-a-box.